Tag Archives: Crystal Wilkinson

bell hooks at Berea College

At Berea’s 2015 Appalachian Symposium, bell hooks led the keynote by talking about belonging to Appalachian culture and how it has shaped her life. The panel also includes Gwyn Rubio, Pam Duncan, Amy Greene, and Crystal Wilkinson.

More videos from the event can be found on Berea College’s YouTube page.

Audio recordings of the events are available here.

Holler 94: Crystal Wilkinson, Christopher McCurry, Nicholas Penn

Tonight’s Holler Poets Series will feature Affrilachian Poet Crystal Wilkinson, Accents Publishing’s own Christopher McCurry, and the musical stylings of Nicholas Penn.

Click here for the Facebook Event page.

Crystal Wilkinson’s The Birds of Opulence is currently available from University Press of Kentucky. It tells the story of the Goode-Brown family, particularly matriarch Minnie Mae, as they deal with mental illness and illegitimacy. Kate Weiss of Leo Weekly calls The Birds of Opulence “swift and beautiful”.

Christopher McCurry’s Nearly Perfect Photograph (Two of Cups Press) is a collection of marriage sonnets that will quickly resonate with any husband or wife. In an interview with Nettie Farris for New Southerner, Christopher says that he chose the sonnet because “Sonnets are supposed to put ideas, emotions, concepts, in conflict with one another” (source). The collection is all about the different kinds of conflict in a marriage-like relationship.

Nicholas Penn is a Lexington musician known for acoustic guitar and singing melancholy, but emotionally-charged, original songs. He has performed at various gatherings, recently performing at the Lexington Art League’s “Artist: Body” exhibit on March 25th. You can see one of his performances in the video below.

When: Wednesday, March 30, 2016 @ 8pm
Where: Al’s Bar
601 N Limestone
Lexington, KY 40508
(859) 309-2901